The day-to-day existence of voluntary organisations continues to be precarious, and they report that the challenges facing the most vulnerable in society are deepening.

The Institute for Voluntary Action Research believes that foundations could be making adaptations to their grant-making practices in response to the circumstances and needs of small to medium voluntary organisations.

In Duty to Care? How to ensure grant-making helps and doesn’t hinder they look at examples of foundation practice from applications through to reporting, and propose actions and questions that other funders might consider.

The longstanding partnership between Cripplegate Foundation and Islington Council features as a case study on pp. 31-32. It covers our work together to:

• provide funding for small community organisations (through Islington Council’s Community Chest)
• provide direct support for local residents (through the Islington Residents’ Support Scheme)
• collaborate on innovative local initiatives on some of Islington’s estates (through the Good Neighbours Schemes).

This partnership has helped us to move from being “quite a typical independent funder”, to building strong and lasting relationships that can be fully supportive of local people and organisations.

Thanks to this partnership, we have been able to award over 600 grants worth around £1.5million to grassroots community groups throughout the borough.